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£50 fine after fruit falls out of buggy

Grimsby mum says she copped littering fine after a chunk of banana rolled off her toddler’s blanket, but the council disputes her version of events

Mum Kirsty Allen, 29, has been hit with a £50 littering fine after a piece of fruit supposedly fell out of the buggy carrying her 16-month-old son, Lennon.

Kirsty said a council warden from North East Lincolnshire Council issued her with the fine after a chunk of fruit dropped on the ground.

“He (Lennon) loves bananas and I have given him one to eat to settle him down. He must have finished eating it and left the end of it on the blanket. It rolled off the side of the pram and landed in a big puddle.

''I didn't really think of it as litter as I thought it would either be eaten by birds or just decompose,'' mum Kirsty told the Telegraph.

But the council disagrees with this version of events. “It is standard procedure to issue a fixed penalty notice to anybody who is caught littering. This incident was identified as an offence within the Cleaner Neighbourhoods Environment Act 2005 as the resident was caught discarding the skin of a banana,” said John Waite, the North East Lincolnshire Council’s interim environmental enforcement manager.

''The offence was acknowledged by Mrs Allen and the council's community wardens spoke to her about the consequences of waste being discarded. The council and its partners are working very hard to improve the quality of life across North East Lincolnshire. The stance of zero tolerance fines for littering will continue in a bid to improve public confidence and restore pride in our local communities and neighbourhoods,'' said John.